


It's Complicated

by ShaeraHaek



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Cheeky Oikawa, Family, Fisherman!Iwaizumi, Grumpy Ushijima, Happy Story, I am really doing a Mpreg holy hell, M/M, Merman Families, Mpreg, Oikawa deserves a separate warning, Pirates - but not the good kind, Platonic Relationship, Suga is very special, Ukai Ikkei - Freeform, Yahaba Shigeru - Freeform, a little bit of very needed angst, a story ft. Iwa and his flip-flops, animal kingdom is awesome, basically a story about my Merman AU headcanons, hinata shouyou - Freeform, iwaushioi, kageyama tobio - Freeform, kinda A/B/O dynamics but not really, merman au, occasional gender change, slow-ish updates: coz I found a job, so the mpreg is a little bit debatable, tagging them here because they have minor roles
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-06
Updated: 2016-08-22
Packaged: 2018-07-12 17:49:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 15,560
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7116247
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShaeraHaek/pseuds/ShaeraHaek
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He had been to the surface only once in his life - when Suga had been leaving for his second voyage, Oikawa had begged the father of the pod for days to let him go see his brother off. Only with Suga's intervention and a promise that he would return no later than in a week, Oikawa was allowed to go. That was the first time he had tasted the air, and the first time he had seen a man. </p><p>*The Merman!AU story that haunted me for quite some time - basically a story riddled with my personal Merman theories and headcanons*</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Whistle Once

**Author's Note:**

> Well, hello there!  
> I have no idea what to say except that this story attacked my mind when I was studying for state exams //very much like the Military AU Run Boy, Run had when I was writing my thesis//.
> 
> I still can´t believe I´m writing a mpreg story - but to make sure, stop reading now if you´re not a fan. 
> 
> Also, I´m going to say it again to make sure: this is supposed to be just an easy writing about all the HCs I have about mermen and their living styles and family bonds //which may or may not resemble the dolphin fam dynamics a little//
> 
> \--->this is basically just a prologue chapter, and I wanna see how many people are interested:P
> 
> Eeehh, so, enjoy, I guess? 
> 
> **Thank you goes to Haza the Baguette for being an awesome beta!!!!**  
> ***Let´s play the game: Spot Ikkei Ukai//pls don´t hate me//***

He should have known better than to swim to the surface on the brink of a storm. He should have known better than to follow the ship blindly. He should have whistled before he swam closer, he should have remembered  what Suga had told him.

 

_He should have... he should have,_ Oikawa laments as he thrashes around on the sharp rock formation, crying out into the sea while his bleeding hands yank on the unrelenting net that ties him down.

 

* * *

 

He had been to the surface only once in his life - when Suga had been leaving for his second voyage, Oikawa had begged the father of the pod for days to let him go see his brother off. Only with Suga's intervention and a promise that he would return no later than a week, Oikawa was allowed to go. That was the first time he had tasted the air, and the first time he had seen a man.

Back then, Suga spent the entire way up reminding him about the dangers that lurked above: about the shallows, hot waters, inedible fish, traitorous hunters... but all Oikawa remembered was how the stressing and worrying didn't suit Suga one bit. Oikawa tried listening - he really did - but the monotonous listing of all things dangerous was exciting back when they were little, not after decades of listening to old hags' warnings at every pod gathering ever. Oikawa lazily swam around his fretting brother as they made their way up, giving him long unimpressed glances and rolling his eyes every time Suga waggled his finger at him. Who could have known the way up would be so boring.

 

It was when they'd reached the waters where the first rays of sun penetrated the inky blackness that Oikawa abandoned his chase of stray jellyfish and was left gaping upwards. Suga faltered in his monologue, looking back at him with a tilt of his head and furrowed brows. He drifted towards Oikawa and grabbed his hand, bringing him out of his stupor. With grins that made their faces ache and hands intertwined, they raced up, everything else forgotten. When the waters turned turquoise, Oikawa whistled and cried at the nearby creatures, immediately darting into the first school of colourful fish, spooking them apart, which earned him a click of Suga's tongue and a fond shake of his head. It didn't take too long for Suga to join him. They played around for hours, their whistles and crows filling the waters around them, making it difficult for the sharks to hunt. Suga had to drag his brother away from them when he noticed the mischievous glint in his brown eyes, not giving him the chance to even try to flip them over. After he steered him away with a stern expression that left Oikawa laughing and chirping at him, Suga suggested another activity, one that Oikawa had never tried before: breaching.

 

Oikawa didn't need to be told twice. Despite trying it for the first time, the competition for the highest jump turned in Oikawa's favour after only a few tries as his tail was a good half meter longer than his brother's. He didn't care that he wasn't as graceful as Suga - he was sure nobody was - but Oikawa was tireless, and he didn't mind a few painful and awkward belly flops for the sake of the win. However, just when he thought he got a hold of a good technique, Suga tugged him away from the surface with a worried frown aimed at something big and dark slowly approaching from behind.

"A ship," Suga said, when Oikawa asked what the moaning thing was.

 

They drifted closer but not too much, keeping their distance as they poked their heads through the water to inspect the upper half. Oikawa was breathless, mouth falling open as he gaped at the huge metallic whale with black flanks and an orange nose. He drifted closer but Suga tugged him back, chirping in disapproval.

"You need to be careful - remember what I said about pirates and their nets?" Suga reminded, dragging him underwater again. They waited for the ship to leave but it didn't - it slowed and circled around them by a wide breadth, moaning and spluttering before it fell silent. Oikawa looked at his brother in confusion, unsure of what to do, but Suga just stared at the ship, completely still. Then abruptly, the ship startled them with two loud, ringing honks that made Suga let out the loudest chirp Oikawa'd ever heard and hurry towards the surface. Oikawa reluctantly followed, stopping under his suddenly ecstatic brother who was nervously pacing just under the waves. 

 

"You always need to make sure they aren't dangerous," Suga lectured with a shaky voice, his tail twitching from side to side. Oikawa knew he couldn't wait to greet whatever the metallic whale brought but he was restraining himself for Oikawa's sake. He didn't do a good job at it, though, Oikawa thought, wrinkling his nose at the smell Suga was emitting. Too excited.

They swam up and poked their heads through the water, watching the ship and the two-legged men pacing on top of it.

 

"Whistle," Suga said, "and if you get a single whistle back, it is safe to get closer. Look," he said and raised his head, letting out three short whistles followed by a long, low one.  The men stopped pacing and ran to the railing, waving their hands. A single low whistle echoed back and that was all it took to make Suga chirp back and race to meet them. Oikawa cautiously followed, suspicious when Suga dipped down under and then swam back up, breaching the water with a spin and a loud cry. Oikawa watched as he flaunted around, jumping up and twisting around as gracefully as he could, flashing his belly at the men, much to Oikawa's dismay. The men laughed and whistled, clapping their hands together every time Suga jumped and waved back at them, unable to tear their eyes off of him. Not that Oikawa blamed them - he couldn't either. It made him a little jealous, he wanted to make them clap for him too. Oikawa's first tries were just meek low jumps but it still seemed to have worked as some of the men started pointing their fingers in his direction. They shouted and waved at him and when Oikawa awkwardly copied them they cheered and laughed. He looked back at Suga who was shamelessly swimming with his belly up, conversing with a tan man with greying hair and face marred by deep lines. It seemed there was another reason besides travelling why Suga refused a mate. When the man jerked his head towards Oikawa, Suga turned around with a smile splitting his face.

 

"See? They are friends!"

 

Oikawa looked up at the willowy man with a scruffy beard, shyly ducking underwater when the man beamed at him.

 

Those were friends - the men on the black and orange metallic whale, the ones that whistled back once. But Oikawa didn't pay attention to the whistles on the brink of a storm. He didn't make sure the men were friendly. He blindly followed their excited shouts, jumped for them and swam close - too close. They threw their nets over him and dragged him on board, laughing when he cried for his kin and beating  him when he tried to crawl back into the sea.

_"Men are weak,"_ Suga's voice echoed in Oikawa's mind as he panted on the floor, cheek pressed against the rough wood. _"They need knives and guns to be strong."_   Oikawa flipped himself on his back, squinting around. He knew what knives were, and he knew what 'guns' looked like - Suga had brought guns from one of his travels. He saw three knives, but no guns.

_"Men are weak."_

Oikawa waited on his back, staring at the heavy dark clouds. When the men approached him with a rope in their hands, he twisted his tail - the first man's knees give in with a sickening crunch, making him fall over. Everything from that point on was just a distant, suffocating haze filled with angry shouts and nails raking his flanks.

 

* * *

 

Oikawa cries out again, bleeding and trembling hands slipping on the thin film of moss that covers the rock, making him fall right on his chin. He wiggles wildly but his tail remains tangled. There is no way out for him, not unless he cuts through the net. He cries and whistles into the open water but no answer comes back. The sky is bright and cloudless and the wind soothing after the tumultuous storm, perfect for the birds that are circling the rock, getting bolder with each passing hour as they dip lower, trying their luck at pecking him.  Oikawa wails and shoos them away but it's never for too long. They still come back and after a while Oikawa just ignores them as they try to balance on his tail.

 

Oikawa knows the end is near. The storm brought him too close to the shore, between sharp rocks barely concealed by the water, and now that the moon is gone, the tide is retreating as well. The sun climbs higher in the sky, heating the air and ground without mercy. Oikawa knows that if he stays stuck too long, he won't be able to reach the water from the rock anymore.  He cries again, rubbing at his painfully dry eyes. He struggles with the net again but it won't budge - he can't even feel his fingers anymore. Oikawa presses himself against the rock and scoops water in his hands, pouring it over his head and tail, but it isn't enough to help him anymore. He turns on his side and stares into the distance, breathing out a couple of pitiable whistles.

 

He closes his eyes and waits for his end, ignoring the sea gulls that settle on the rock and screech into his ear. He swats them away with his tail and listens to the wind, clumsily whistling through his dry, chapped lips. Then suddenly, when the wind picks up again, he hears a sound - a whistle, long and high-pitched. Oikawa opens his eyes and stares at the sea, looking for a flash of silver scales. He tries whistling again but his throat is too dry. He reaches for the water but he barely reaches it with the tips of his fingers. He wets his lips and tries again. A whistle comes back once more. His heart jumps with joy in his chest as he squints into the distance, but he still doesn't see anyone. He tries singing but it comes out as a dull, hoarse moan that lacks a proper echo. The whistle echoes back again, this time even closer - but... from the wrong direction.

 

Oikawa frowns and tilts his head to pinpoint where exactly the sound is coming from. The same sound echoes again and it's definitely not from the sea, but from the shore. Oikawa looks around and spots a man balancing on the sharp rocks, a dark sheath hanging from his hand. His heart leaps again, but this time not from joy. The man freezes when he notices him, bracing his hand against the rocks to steady himself. He puts his fingers in his mouth and makes the high-pitched whistle.

 

'He's far enough,' Oikawa thinks in his panicked frenzy, 'he is still far enough.' He doesn't think straight as he throws himself down the rock, forgetting that the net is still tied to his tail and tangled around the rocks. Oikawa keens in pain as he scrapes his chest and belly but continues struggling as the man shouts something and quickens his pace. Oikawa thrashes around more violently when he feels a hand slide down his tail and then press between his shoulder blades. He stills when the man starts talking, but he doesn't understand - Suga never taught him the tongue of men. The dry air burns his throat and lungs as he wheezes, and his eyes sting as he tries to reach for the water that has retreated too far by now. The man keeps one hand on his back and pets his head with the other, murmuring. Oikawa stills, too tired, too aching, and when the hand disappears from his back, he knows that is the last chance he'll get.

 

With the last bit of power that's left in him, Oikawa twists around and throws himself at the man, hoping his teeth are sharp and strong enough to break his neck.


	2. Danger From Beneath the Waves

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A thrilling reunion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aah! It's late, isn't it! But it's here anyway! //without art but still, it is//  
> Thank you for the <3!!!! 
> 
> *Thank you goes to @kettlewhistlss for beta-ing this!!*  
> **If you find any errors, I´m so sorry, but AO3 likes to fuck with me and mine**  
> Enjoy!

Iwaizumi heaves a sigh as he looks around, observing the mess the storm has caused. He has dragged his boat as far up the beach as he could without a car, and it still ended up smashed against the rocks - damn his stupid luck. He bites the inside of his cheek and purses his lips, looking down on his flip-flops and then back up at the nets stewn all over the beach. It is going to be a long and tiring day. With one last sigh, Iwaizumi makes his way down to the rocky beach, praying he doesn't slip on the seaweed that covers the ground. He finds the flattest rock in the middle of the mess and sits on it, getting down to work. He cuts and tugs and throws the nets into a messy pile with a thunderous frown, knowing that it is not what the local men use for fishing. Iwaizumi wrinkles his nose in distaste, murmuring insults under his nose.

 

After what feels like an hour, he throws his head back and groans at the peach-coloured sky, wiping the sweat off his forehead. The iron net is just unending! He looks around with another curse on the tip of his tongue and decides to take a break. The weather is much warmer than Iwaizumi predicted - the heat from the rising sun is not unbearable yet, but it promises an excruciatingly hot and humid day. He stares at the sky and listens to the soft whistling wind. The seagulls glide around and peep at each other, dipping down and flying up again... Iwaizumi sits up and squints at the sky, straining his ears. He hears a whistle, but it is not the wind like he initially thought. He looks around shading his eyes with his hand, already regretting not bringing a hat. The whistling echoes again and this time Iwaizumi's mouth works faster than his mind - he whistles back and waits.

 

The sound comes back again.

 

Iwaizumi scrambles to his feet, sheathing his knife before scanning the rocks. He thinks about the morning report of the several missing fishing ships - he didn't think that any of those listed could have survived such a violent storm but still... Could it be that the water has washed someone up? Iwaizumi carefully climbs down and steps over the pile of cut nets, exchanging whistles with whoever was stuck down on the beach - he hopes it is not too late. He looks up to judge the distance between himself and the flocking seagulls and slips on the traitorous rocks, almost busting his leg. He is close - the whistling is coming right from over--

 

Iwaizumi stares ahead, his mouth falling open. He shakes his head and rubs his eyes but no, it _is_ real. A mermaid - merman? - mer-person, bloody and beaten, lying on the rocks and turning his head, looking around with wide eyes. Iwaizumi's body moves him closer, his mind still completely stuck. He falters when the wind picks up, feeling his head coming around what his eyes are seeing. It is probably not a good idea to sneak up on the creature. When he looks up again he notices the mer-thing looking back at him, body tense and completely still. Iwaizumi puts two fingers in his mouth and whistles.

 

He isn't sure what he really expected to happen but he definitely wasn't the mer-whatever flinging itself off the little platform straight at the sharp rocks.

 

"You stupid dumbass!" Iwaizumi yelps and rushes forward, almost losing one of his flip-flops.

 

"Shh, calm down, Crist!" he tries to pacify the merman before he hurts himself more. Iwaizumi pets

his tail - impressed and secretly happy that it is tied to the rock because he's sure a single blow would ensure his untimely death - and puts his hand between the merman's shoulder blades, hoping it will make him cease his thrashing.

 

 "Shh, you see, shh? Everything is fine! I don't want to hurt you, I hope you won't hurt me either. I promise I will let you go as soon as I can I just need to cut this shit off your tail, and I hope to God you won't decide to swing that thing at me," Iwaizumi babbles quietly, finding it hard to believe it was actually working. The merman is heaving heavily, but he doesn't wiggle around anymore. Still, Iwaizumi is afraid to move his hands, both from his tail and from his back, but he notices the merman quietly sobbing, so he automatically moves to pet his head - that was the universal gesture of 'please-don't-cry', right?

 

"I'm really harmless, I promise. Just calm down and don't move around too much. I'm going to let you go, and I'm going to cut the damn net off your tail, okay?" Iwaizumi says, slowly removing his hands. "Please, don't kill me!" he adds quietly and grabs his knife. That turns out to be the biggest mistake,  because the second looks the way, the merman lurches himself straight at his neck. Iwaizumi screams, both in alarm and pain, his hands reflexively looking for the merman's jaw.

 

"What did I just ask you _not_ to do, you jackass!" Iwaizumi yells, barely keeping himself upright. He forces himself to let go of the merman's jaw, putting his hands on his trembling shoulders instead, swallowing a long curse when he feels the creature jerk his head. It is becoming a little bit too hazardous for Iwaizumi's tastes but he endures. He tries soothing and murmuring and thanks the heavens when he feels the merman's hold getting slack.

 

"Listen, dummy," Iwaizumi tries after a while, tired of waiting until the creature really lets go, "I'm the good guy here, alright? I'm trying to help you." He growls and waits - he really can't  do much more. A good while later, he finally feels the painful hold on his neck lessen until it disappears completely and the merman is just leaning against him. Iwaizumi carefully moves when he feels something moving against his pain-numbed neck, hoping the merman didn't start eating him alive - he wonders if they eat humans like _some_ humans eat them.

 

He drags the merman back onto the rock and carefully lies him down, wincing in compassion when he takes a closer look at all the ugly wounds.

"I'm sorry," he says quietly, wiping the merman's bloodied chin absentmindedly, feeling miserable seeing such a powerful creature in such pitiable state.  He doesn't know what is worse: having the merman trying to kill him or this... extreme passivity.

 

Iwaizumi palms his neck, and he wishes he could say it's alright, but it kind of isn't - but at least the merman hasn't taken a real bite out of him. His hand is completely covered in blood and he knows his white tank top is beyond salvageable at this point - the blood has already moved past, soaking his pants. Iwaizumi jumps down into the water, washing himself off, trying not to think at how he's literally pouring salt in his wounds. The bleeding lessens somewhat, and even though he has to crouch down and take a while to will the world to stop spinning, he knows he can't rest too long. He takes a deep breath and clenches his jaw, splashing some water on the merman, too.

 

"Hey, don't you dare to die on me, buddy!" he calls, getting a measly wiggle in reply. That is a good sign, he decides. He keeps splashing, trying to hit the tail, and grins when the sea creature turns his head to owlishly blink at him. "Yeah, you like that, right? You have to wait a little bit, though." Iwaizumi says and makes his way back to the rock, picking up his knife. The merman watches him, eyes flickering from Iwaizumi's face to the knife in his hand.

 

"I am going to cut this," Iwaizumi explains as he crouches down and tugs at the net coiled around the merman's tail, "not you, okay?" he says and makes sure his hands are visible all the time. He doesn't need him to freak out again.

 

Iwaizumi starts working on the thrice-damned iron net, glancing at the merman every now and then to make sure he is still alive. He soon loses track of time, but he doesn't need to watch the merman as his tail is twitches more and more the less the net is coiled around it. Iwaizumi is almost done, grinning widely at the job well done but the smile freezes on his face when he hears a very... suspicious sound. He looks up and stares. The merman seems to be... grooming? himself - he's rubbing his hands against the tiny gills under his jaw and then smearing whatever slimy secretion - which is the source of the very suspicious sound - down his mutilated front and onto the parts of his tail where the scales started to fall off. He almost gets a mouthful of the merman's caudal fin when he leans closer.

 

"Hey!" Iwaizumi yelps, and swats the tail away, frowning at the merman who returns the look with an impressive pout, wiggling his tail more. Iwaizumi carefully slaps the fin away, and the merman whines urgently, pointing a long finger at the last bit of net.

 

"Yes, I know!" Iwaizumi grumbles and drags a hand down his face, clicking his tongue when he remembers his fingers are bleeding now, too. "Listen, you big fish," Iwaizumi starts, patting the tail with his palm, "I am going to cut the net," he says slowly, looking around, "but if you startle me and I slip,  I will die, and if you decide to slap me with this," Iwaizumi pokes the tail with his finger, "I will die. So, please, don't  do anything we'll both regret."

 

It isn't like he expected a reply, but the breath gets knocked out of his lungs when the merman has the nerve to beam at him with the widest grin he can manage with a busted chin, bracing his palms against the rock and tugging his tail towards Iwaizumi, who shakily huffs out a little laugh. Does the creature understand him?

 

"I am going to regret this," Iwaizumi murmurs and cuts the last bit of net, bracing himself for impact that doesn’t come. The merman is still but barely so - he is turned towards the sea, chirping and whistling, slapping the rock with his tail in excitement.

"Alright sunshine," Iwaizumi says when he recovers, "time to get you back to water."

 

However, that is easily said than done.

 

Iwaizumi cautiously gets closer to the very excited merman, immediately gaining his attention.

 

"I have to carry you," he says, spreading his arms, hoping  that the gesture is universal enough for the merman to understand what he's planning. The merman does seem a little bit sceptical, leaning away from him with distrust, but Iwaizumi is patient, and soon, the merman hesitantly mirrors his posture. Iwaizumi inches closer between the merman's arms, nudging them to wind around his neck while he puts his own arms under where he guesses a human butt would be.

 

"Ready? Don't bite!" Iwaizumi hoists him up and even though he knows  a creature like this would surely weigh more than an average human but he still isn't ready for it.

"Holy shit!" he curses and grits his teeth, almost doubling over. He slowly edges towards the water, wincing when the merman whistles right into his ear, hooks his chin over his shoulder and rubs his neck against the spot where he bit him earlier.

"Eww, stop it!" Iwaizumi cringes, feeling the slimy substance on his skin. He stumbles through the rocks and into the water, almost falling over again. "Just a little further," Iwaizumi assures as he wades deeper, and the merman starts to twist and turn in his grasp.

"There you go, sunshine!" he says when he finally lets go. The merman immediately dives underwater and swims away, his tail nudging Iwaizumi's knees, making him lose balance and fall.

"You asshole!" Iwaizumi shouts when he regains his footing, spitting out seawater and shaking his fist in the merman's general direction. He stays in the water, though, hands on hips, watching the distant waves to see if anything interesting happens. He is a little disappointed when nothing happens, but he's glad that the merman is alive and, hopefully, well.

 

Iwaizumi is ready to leave when a whistle stops him and when he squints into the distance he sees a brown head above the waves. He grins and waves, whistling back. The merman ducks down again and a second later he is jumping out of the water with a shrill cry. Iwaizumi laughs and cheers, "bye-bye sunshine!" he calls and waits until the merman is done breaching. _Maybe I should take a picture,_ he thinks and then slaps his forehead, reaching into his pocket.

 

"Goddammit," he looks at his dead, soaked phone, shaking his head. "I'm a dumbass, too."

 

Iwaizumi decides he's had enough of net cutting and excitement for one day, so he retrieves his knife, gathers the net, dumping it on the shore where the water won't reach it, and goes home. He really needs someone to look at the wound. He gets a few weird looks in the town and couple of men ask him whether he's alright but after he assures them everything is - mostly - fine, he's left alone. Instead of going home, Iwaizumi goes to the one person that could help him without rattling him out to everyone and their mother. He knocks on the door and waits.

 

He hears hurried steps and then the door swings open. "Hey--Jesus Christ! Are you alright?"  

"Hey, Daichi," Iwaizumi greets, "you will not believe what just happened to me."

 

* * *

 

"You are right," Daichi calmly says an hour later, an unimpressed look firmly set on his face. "I do not believe what just happened to you."

Iwaizumi sighs and returns the unimpressed stare with pursed lips and a tilt of his head. Daichi stares at him with a slight squint, searching his eyes, but Iwaizumi endures it without blinking.

 

"Christ," Daichi finally murmurs, looking away, hand sliding down his face. "You're not joking."

Iwaizumi sighs and shakes his head, "no, I'm not - as if I could fake this," he adds, pointing at the already disappearing marks on his neck.

Daichi stands, putting his hands on his hips. There is a lot of sighing going on there lately.

"Give me a clean shirt, would you?" Iwaizumi says before Daichi can even open his mouth. "I've already traumatized the town." he adds unhappily, shooting a disappointed look at his own, bloody

 shirt.

"Yeah, Mr. Jack the Ripper. What will the grannies say about you now? Definitely won't ask you to marry their cute granddaughters." Daichi laughs as he throws a clean shirt at him. Iwaizumi catches it and looks it over, fixing the man with a pointed look as he sticks a finger through one of the more prominent holes. He puts the shirt on anyway, clicking his tongue when he smooths it down.

"Is this a fashion statement?" he asks grumpily, staring at the hole that's right over his nipple. "I want my money back."

"You are free to ruin it with your blood again." Daichi shrugs. "So what are we going to do now?"

"I don't know," Iwaizumi grumbles, rubbing his neck. The marks are almost completely gone. "We'll hope that the pirates won't come back to collect their nets. I wanna see if _he_ comes back, though - wipe that grin off your face!"

Daichi tilts his head, "aww, somebody has finally captured the heart of the old and stubborn bachelor Hajime? And it's a mermaid to boot - the scandal! Just what will the ladies say?"

"They will push their granddaughters at you," Iwaizumi shoots back with a frown, "and it's a merman."

"A _scandal_." Daichi stresses, the grin widening on his face. "Didn't old man Ukai have a mermaid friend too?"

"Rumour has it," Iwaizumi hums.

Daichi gestures at the door and then wipes his bloody hands in the discarded rag he used to clean Iwaizumi's wounds with.

 

* * *

 

While Iwaizumi climbs the narrow steps to Ukai's house he tries to remembers the times from his childhood, when he and a couple of other kids from the neighbourhood used to sneak into the old man's backyard, pleading him to tell them about his cruises. Back then, Ukai never mentioned anything about mermaids. It was much later, when Iwaizumi was too old to be bounced on knees, that the rumour started spreading. Someone from Ukai's crew had too much to drink and let his tongue slip about the mermaids that accompany them whenever they set sail, and while the people of their village are a good bunch, never daring to hunt the mermaids as they believe seeing one was a sign of good fortune, not everyone in the world has the same believes. There weren't just the good locals at the pub that night. Next thing they knew, they had pirates asking around for Ukai and his crew. Nobody quite knows what happened back then, but Ukai's crew stopped setting sail and the old man stopped going out into the sea.

 

Iwaizumi slaps his cheeks and to shake off the thoughts, knocks on the door and waits. Then he knocks again and waits more, but the old man still doesn’t answer. Iwaizumi looks up and sees an open window - he has to be home. He walks around the house and peeks into the garden - sure enough Ukai is there, crouching by his peas.

 

"Hello!" Iwaizumi greets and gets a low grumble in return. He cautiously walks over and crouches down next to the man. It seems like the storm has ruined most of the poles that held the peas up. Ukai is replacing them and tying the stalks back to them with strips of cloth. Iwaizumi uselessly looks around, no idea how to help.

 

"You reek of blood," Ukai grumbles, wrinkling his nose but still not looking at him.

"I found a mermaid on the beach this morning." he says quietly, and Ukai's head whips to the side, eyes wide and thunderous. Iwaizumi honestly expects a punch to the face, but it thankfully doesn’t happen. He startles, though, when the old man grabs the front of his borrowed shirt and drags him up, shoving him towards the house.

 

"This better not be a fucking joke, son!" he warns after he pushes Iwaizumi to sit on the chair, and crosses his arms on his chest. "Spill!" And Iwaizumi does. He tells him about the nets and the crying merman, carefully studying Ukai's face. The old man lets out a deep breath when he learns that the merman is safely back in the sea. His shoulders are still tense, though.

 

"The merman - did he have silver hair?" Ukai asks quietly, staring at the ground.

"No," Iwaizumi shakes his head and sees the weight disappear from Ukai's shoulders. "But I didn't just come to tell you this."

"Yeah, about that," Ukai interrupts, arching a brow at him.

 

Iwaizumi is more than disappointed - he wanted to ask more about the mermaids and about Ukai's silver-haired friend but the old man has thrown him out of his house before he could finish his first question.

"The less you know about them, the better." Ukai says before he slams the door in Iwaizumi's face. The way he said it though... Iwaizumi gives up with a sigh. Maybe Ukai is right - after all, last time there was big talk about mermaids in the area, they had to deal with more than one pirate crew.

 

Iwaizumi goes home, falls onto his bed and sleeps until the next noon.

 

* * *

 

He goes to the beach every day after that. At first he has a valid reason: cleaning up the nets and the washed up rubbish, repairing his boat, helping others with their repairs. It keeps him busy for most of the day, but when the sun starts setting, he walks around aimlessly, eyes drawn toward the open sea. He keeps telling himself not to be stupid - mermaids don't go near the shores, and the one he freed would surely not be dumb enough to return. But he still waits. Days turn into weeks and weeks into months and he still doesn't get a single glimpse of a turquoise tail, or a faint whistle.

 

When winter rolls by, he stops going down to the beach, and when spring starts knocking on the door, he is too busy planning fishing trips and looking for the best fishing supplies he can afford to even think about mermaids.

 

He is lucky with the fuel, and it's all thanks to Daichi and his incredible swiping abilities. Unlike Iwaizumi, who works for himself and lives from  what he manages to sell during summer and autumn, Daichi works on a commercial fishing ship that's about ten times bigger than Iwaizumi's own little matchbox boat. Working on a big ship is better in some ways - like draining extra fuel for good friends, and worse in others - like a very limited income from the catch. Sometimes, when Iwaizumi's luck wears thin and the fish migrate further than Iwaizumi could go with his boat, he joins the 'com-crew' until the season is really over, praying the pay is enough to get him through the winter. They live a modest life, but they don’t mind.  

 

This season looks pretty promising, though. Iwaizumi snaps a picture of the sail plans of the local com-crews to know which places he should avoid, thanks Daichi for his efforts and plans his own cruise. 

 

He sets sail the next week, leaving a couple of days of delay between him and the big ships. The first two days are calm and without any significant catch, but by the dawn of the third day, while Iwaizumi is snoozing in his little cabin, something big tugs at the nets. Iwaizumi is on his feet and stalking around in a second, almost falling overboard when something nudges the boat. The tugging gets more violent, making Iwaizumi bite out a few curses as he throws himself into the cabin so he won't fall over. A while later, everything is back to the eerie calm, leaving him clutching the railing with eyes wide open and darting around.

"What the fuh--" he breathes, sitting up. He checks the nets and finds all the baits missing.

 

He doesn't return home right away as he believes that luck might still look his way. He places new baits - the last ones he has, and hopes for the best when he slumps against the wall, hand resting on his harpoon.  

 

 A sharp whistle startles him awake. Iwaizumi look around in alarm and a second later something nudges the boat - just like yesterday, but this time less violent. He stays crouched on the deck floor, waiting. There is something big under the boat, he can feel it brushing against the hull, making the boat gently rock back and forth. Iwaizumi creeps forward when the rocking starts to subside, intending to peek over the edge to see whatever creature is fucking with him but then he hears scratching from the left hull against which he is currently leaning and that makes him stop dead in his tracks. More scratching follows, along with some weird slapping sound but before he can investigate properly, a pale hand grasps the left railing and Iwaizumi actually screams. 

 

The hand is joined by a second one, and then the boat dips as the unknown black passenger heaves himself up and Iwaizumi can do nothing else but gape, because there, hanging over the railing of his boat, is the merman Iwaizumi saved a year ago. The merman huffs as he unsuccessfully tries to get in the boat, but his tail is heavier than his upper half so he just hangs there, wiggling. It doesn't seem to upset him for too long as he abruptly looks up and giggles in embarrassment.

 

"Hello!" he chirps, grinning from ear to ear.

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, the third chapter is not written yet... but at least I can start now, right? SO, comments?


	3. Oh Damn

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> *throws Iwaois and Ushiois at you*  
> This should be called "The daily life of Iwaizumi Hajime"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello there! This took a while but alas! I deliver! 
> 
> Enjoy the Iwaois!! 
> 
> **Thank you goes to lovely Awa-chan (areodus) for proofreading!!!**

"You - you--" Iwaizumi stammers as he stares at the grinning merman. _You can talk! You are alright! You are back!_ He wants to say. "You ate all my bait!" He shouts instead, pointing an accusative finger at him. He feels the corners of his mouth to tug upwards, but feigns a frown. The merman's smile shrinks a little, and Iwaizumi sees a flash of uncertainty cross his face - still, it is not enough to deter Iwaizumi from a proper scolding. He huffs, puts one hand on his hip, forgetting he's still clutching the harpoon in the other. He points the weapon away from the mer-intruder and fixes him with a stern scowl.

"My bait," He says, and this time his tone is enough to wipe the smile off the merman's face completely. "Is gone." Iwaizumi squints and leans forward, trying very hard not to laugh, which is becoming harder with every second.  "I have no way to catch fish now!"

The merman braces his arms against the railing, pushes himself up, and Iwaizumi chokes on his next words as he observes the brows furrow in worry on the merman's face.

"No, wait!" Iwaizumi yells, surging forward to catch the merman, who flings himself back underwater.

"Fuck!" He swears as his body tips forward over the railing, just close enough to the water to get splashed in the face. He kicks his feet to balance himself back, and stares at the quickly disappearing foam the merman left behind.

"Stupid," Iwaizumi murmurs, "Dumb, stupid, idiot!" He keeps swearing, mad at himself for driving the merman away. He slumps down on the floor, and looks towards the sky after he drags a hand down his face.

He sits on the deck and stares into distance for a while, telling himself that _maybe he didn't screw up that bad, he might still come back_ , but there is no splashing, no curious head peeking out, or any other indication that the merman has changed his mind. The disappointment tastes bitter on his tongue but he swallows it and starts dragging his nets back up, keeping an eye out nonetheless.

There are some young cods caught here and there but they won't be enough to make a decent sell. Iwaizumi spots several fish without their bodies - he throws the heads back in the sea knowing exactly who munched on them not too long ago. He can't bring himself to feel too mad - at least he got to see him again.

"I should have had my camera ready," Iwaizumi grumbles, moving to take down the last net, but as soon as he bends over and grabs it a wet, slimy fishtail slaps him right in the mouth. He slips and falls on his ass, spluttering and spitting out the loose scales he almost swallowed.

"Oow, what the hell?" Iwaizumi rubs his jaw and looks down at the fish that's meekly twitching in his lap. It's a big fat cod with a twisted head. Iwaizumi brushes the bleeding fish off, looking around, spotting another fish flying at him just in time to duck. It leaves a bloody smudge on his white cabin wall.

"Hey!" Iwaizumi shouts uncertainly, but that doesn't help him as he soon has more adolescent cod literally jumping in and hitting his boat. He hides in the cabin and waits for the fish-attack to end, staring at the mayhem with wide eyes, and an open mouth. Have the fish gone mad? Has _he_ gone mad? Iwaizumi keeps watching the fish making suicide dives onto his boat from the safety of the cabin, wordlessly throwing his hands in the air.

He screams when a huge tuna hits the window - and that's when Iwaizumi's proverbial cup runs over. He throws the door open, runs to the railing, and jumps overboard.

The cold water is a welcoming shock for his heated skin. Iwaizumi finally relaxes, enjoying the crackling in his ears that's followed by a blissful silence, daring to open his eyes. He's done enough pearl hunting as a child to have grown accustomed to the discomfort.

Iwaizumi floats there, completely ignored by the fish, when suddenly, he spots a brighter, and much bigger blotch swim right towards him. He immediately recognizes the turquoise colour.

He opens his mouth in a surprised yelp when the merman bumps into him and sneaks an arm around his torso, dragging him back to the surface. Coughing out the water he unintentionally inhaled, Iwaizumi draws a deep breath when his head breaks through the waves, and rubs the salty water out of his eyes, blinking, only to find himself staring right into round brown eyes.

"Hey," Iwaizumi says dumbly, feeling his mouth stretch into a grin as he stares at the mildly concerned face of the merman. "You're back!"

The merman hesitantly returns his smile, and drags him back to the ship. Iwaizumi climbs back in by a rope that holds the floats, huffing in exertion as his feet keep slipping on the smooth wall. He scans the apocalypse that covers the deck and jumps over the railing, careful not to step on a fish.

"Are you coming?" He asks, looking back at the water where the merman is floating, absently turning his head to the sides as if he's looking for something. They stare at each other for a short awkward beat and then the merman dips underwater and jumps up, catching the railing with one hand, heaving himself up. Iwaizumi is impressed. The merman, however, doesn't look like he wants to get in. Instead, he hooks his arms on the railing and stays put - Iwaizumi thinks of those animal tea infusers he has at home.

"What's that in your hand?"He asks when he notices that the merman has his right hand still closed in a fist.

"Gift!" The merman says. He stretches out the hand, carefully opening it to reveal a small mandarinfish. Iwaizumi's eyes flicker between the barely breathing orange-blue fish and the expectant face of the merman.

"Yum!" The merman says and extends his arm in offering.

"I can't eat that," Iwaizumi says carefully, "It's poisonous."

The merman scrunches his face for a second, raising his eyebrows in question.

His confusion makes Iwaizumi grin. He picks up a cod from the deck and points at it, "This is yum," He points at the mandarinfish, "Not yum."

The merman pouts but shrugs, and plops the fish in his mouth, promptly swallowing. This time, Iwaizumi is the one raising his eyebrows.

"Alright," He says, and throws the fish in the nearest barrel, "I think we need a little talk. But first, I need to clean up this mess." Iwaizumi gestures around and puts his hands on his hips. The merman sways from side to side before dropping back in the water.

Soon enough, more fish start flying on board. 

  
"This is going to be a long day." He grumbles when a fish smacks the back of his head.

* * *

Iwaizumi looks at the five fish-filled barrels and nods, more than satisfied. Three and a half barrels of cod, and one filled with madai. Not bad, not bad at all - that last one alone is enough to buy him enough food for a month. The merman is watching him from the railing again, munching on a fish, tail thumping against the ship.

With everything sorted out, all that's left is to clean the deck, and Iwaizumi really doesn't look forward to scrub the blood, slime, and scales off the wood, but the odour is getting worse with every minute, which is a pretty good motivation to get to work. He uncoils the hose, takes out a floor brush, and starts cleaning.

From the corner of his eye, he sees the merman edging towards the barrels - every time he drops into the water to get refreshed and jumps back, he appears closer, so Iwaizumi waits until he's close enough for an arm's reach to see what he does. As expected, when the merman gets close enough, he tries to pry the barrel open. Iwaizumi lets him stew for a while, watching his webbed hands slipping on the cover.

"Having trouble, sunshine?" Iwaizumi asks, laughing when the merman startles and slips down. He goes to the railing and leans against it, glancing down at the wide-eyed face of the surprised merman. Iwaizumi opens the barrel, takes a fish out, and dangles it in front of him. The merman is back on the railing in a second, craning his neck and snapping his teeth, trying to get the food Iwaizumi keeps moving out of his reach.

The merman is not too amused, and repays  him with a smack on his chest.

"Alright, I deserved that," Iwaizumi says and lowers his arm, surrendering the fish. "What's your name, hmm?" He asks, resting his cheek in his palm.

The merman pauses, pulls himself up, and bends over the railing in attempt to get in. Iwaizumi has half a mind into helping him, but it seems like it won't be necessary. The merman successfully drags his body in, his tail falling onto the floor with a heavy thud, which reminds Iwaizumi to cautiously step away from it.

"Oikawa," The merman chirps, bending his tail in a half-circle around him.

Iwaizumi is - once again - surprised. A Japanese name? He honestly expected some gibberish tongue-twister, not a simple name.

"Reaching river?" He wonders out loud, squatting in front of Oikawa, "Who named you?"

The gills under Oikawa's jaw flutter - Iwaizumi doesn't know from his facial expression if it's from excitement or if that's how mermen sigh. Oikawa opens his mouth a few times and scrunches his face.

"Brother," He says finally, hesitating. "He travels with you and-and," Oikawa gestures to his throat, making a few chirps. It seems he's not really used to speaking human tongue yet.

Still, it's impressive how well he talks. The foreign inflexions at the end of words are pretty audible, and Iwaizumi can't help but to smile, because it reminds him of the old cheeky parrot the granny next door has.

"So, your brother teaches you how to talk because he travels with other fishermen?" Iwaizumi guesses, crouching down. Oikawa nods, his eyes straying towards the barrels again. "How did you find me anyway?"

"Blood," Oikawa chirps.

Iwaizumi blinks. "I'm sorry? I mean, what?"

The merman reaches out for Iwaizumi's hand and holds it up, showing him the cut on the base of his palm. "Oh, when did I- "

"I am looking for my brother," Oikawa interrupts him, twisting around to look around. "He is coming back soon."

Iwaizumi follows his line of sight, shielding his eyes with his hand. "That's a lot of ground to cover." He looks back at the barrels and scrunches his mouth. "I need to go home."

Oikawa looks at him with a frown and a tilt of his head. "Why?"   

"I need to store the fish before they go bad." Iwaizumi explains, but the merman's frown only deepens. "You need to go home, too." Iwaizumi adds, pointing at Oikawa's tail - it's starting to get dry on the direct sun, and his skin doesn't look better either. "You are starting to lose scales again. Aren't you hot?"

Oikawa whistles in protest, gills fluttering. "I'm good. Stay more!"

"You're a stubborn one, aren't you?" Iwaizumi huffs, going for the hose to pour some water on the stubborn merman, who looks more than relieved to feel water again. Iwaizumi doesn't feel too eager to get back yet either, so he decides to take the risk, moves the barrels to the hold, filling them with water, and hopes it will be enough to keep them fresh for a little longer. He takes out a few fish to keep his exotic passenger fed, and sits on the floor a safe distance away from the merman's tail, hose ready to pour water on him every time he sees him so as much reach to scratch or rub his body.

They talk - or rather, Iwaizumi asks a question, and Oikawa tries to answer as best as he can with his limited vocabulary, and a range of whistles and clicks, while Iwaizumi struggles to piece together meaningful answers. It's funny, actually, how easy Oikawa is with his trust, but Iwaizumi supposed it's because of what happened between them a year back. Iwaizumi learns that Oikawa doesn't leave his family too often - something about not being allowed to leave, but Iwaizumi isn't too sure about that. He also learns that there's a certain hierarchy in their group and that Oikawa's relationship with the leader is pretty complicated, going by the faces he keeps making when he talks about him. He doesn't understand the part about his brother, though.

The biggest surprise comes when Iwaizumi asks him where exactly he is from. Oikawa freezes and hesitates, fixing him with a worried look.

"You don't need to tell me, I was just curious, that's all." Iwaizumi assures him, putting his hands up in surrender. He wonders if he's crossed the line, but then Oikawa starts looking around, trying to guess their location. He faces south-east then, and points forward.

"There," He says quietly, staring ahead, unmoving.

Iwaizumi follows the direction, shielding his eyes with his hand. He tries to picture the map to guess what lies over there, but he gives up after a while, promising himself to look it up later.

"Don't go there." Oikawa says, dropping his arm but not looking away. "They kill you."

"I won't." Iwaizumi promises. He really doesn't feel like accidentally stumbling upon a nest of mer-people - Oikawa's strength alone is scary enough.

In return, Iwaizumi answers Oikawa's questions about the human way of life, and patiently explains what the different things Oikawa points at are for.

When the sun dips down on the western part of the sky, Iwaizumi squints at it with a thoughtful glance.

"I really need to go home," He says, and jumps away as Oikawa uncurls his tail. The merman isn't too happy to hear that, and he actually starts chasing Iwaizumi across the deck - 'chase' being used very loosely as Oikawa's ability to chase is limited to dragging his body around by his arms, trying to grab Iwaizumi's legs while making a sound that's probably supposed to be a long 'no' but it's lodged somewhere deep in his throat, coming out as a creepy croak that's surely trademarked for some foreign horror movie.

"Listen!" Iwaizumi sighs in exasperation after the merman trips him with his tail, dragging it over his legs, effectively trapping him in place. Iwaizumi tries to push him off, but Oikawa climbs on top of him, pushing him back down with an ease that reminds Iwaizumi of the fear he felt when they first met.

"I really need to go before the sun goes down completely. I need to sell the fish before they get spoiled."

Oikawa looks at him with a pouty frown, and stubbornly rests his cheek on his chest. Iwaizumi's mind wanders to the dark places where he keeps the morbid stories his grandma used to tell.

"Please, let me go," He says tightly, gently trying to pry Oikawa away. To his surprise, the merman actually lets go of him, sliding off on his side with an expression that makes Iwaizumi's mouth go dry.

"You are afraid," Oikawa says, and Iwaizumi swallows the dry lump in his throat. Oikawa stares at him with his brown eyes wide open and Iwaizumi feels mesmerized. "You are afraid of me."

The chills dance down Iwaizumi's back and he has to bite his tongue to keep himself from yelping out loud. "Yes, I am."

Oikawa shuffles away from him uncertainly, "I don't want to hurt you. I don't-" He finishes with an upset click of his tongue.

"I'm sorry," Iwaizumi says with a sigh, glad that the heavy tail is off his legs. He doesn't know what goes through Oikawa's head, but he seems pretty conflicted.

"Go home," The merman exclaims finally, crawling towards the water. He stops at the railing, sadly looking back.

Iwaizumi huffs. He really hopes he didn't insult him. "I'll be back in a few days." He calls. That finally wipes the frown off Oikawa's face.

"Promise?" He asks with a grin.

"Promise." Iwaizumi replies, returning the grin. Oikawa slips in the water and graces him with a nice breaching show as Iwaizumi turns the ship to sail back home.

He thinks of The Old Man and the Sea and his mind starts wandering again. If he is the Old Man then Oikawa would be his marlin - a morbid image. He stares at the spot where the barrels stood and his eyes wander towards the other side of the deck where Oikawa's shed scales glint in the moonlight. Iwaizumi picks one up, and marvels at the beautiful turquoise colour that's visible even despite the darkness - he wonders if his tail glows in the dark.

* * *

He docks his boat just shortly after dawn, and his catch stirs up a little excitement in the bay. The old, long retired, fishermen with wind-beaten faces and grey beards kindly slap his back, their scarred fingers squeezing his shoulder as they inspect the barrels.

"Now you've done it, son," His broker says, staring into the barrel filled with madai, weighing a particularly meaty one in his hand, nodding happily. "This is going to get us a nice stack of money! You know, I met a guy who was asking about these just yesterday!"

Iwaizumi grins and returns the friendly slaps on his back, "You don't say!" He teases with a laugh, "Are you sure you haven't been dreaming that?" His breath smells of cheap sake and cigarettes as usual.

"I am extremely positive, son! You give me a few hours and I'll get you the best deal-"

"Don't listen to him, Hajime!" Another broker joins in - Iwaizumi recognizes him as the one Daichi sometimes deals with, "He's been chugging sake all evening! I'll give you much better deal for those!" He says, and half-hugs Iwaizumi from the other side. The two brokers exchange daring glances over his head, and Iwaizumi pries both their arms away. When the third broker shuffles over, and starts to throw prices around, Iwaizumi excuses himself, and goes to help with the rest of the barrels.

The old men try to shoo him away - _you've done enough work with the nets, go get some rest,_ they say,  but Iwaizumi is persistent, and he doesn't mind the cleaning and sorting. His stomach grumbles but he ignores it. He sits on the pier next to the others, and works just like they do. There are very few young helping hands around in the docks, and the number of the old ones goes steadily down with every season. Their little town is mostly filled with elderly, which is why the young ones - like Iwaizumi and Daichi - are pushed into marriage, and buried under propositions left and right. He feels only slightly bad for declining them, but on the other hand, he doesn't have the time to raise a family, and neither does Daichi.

"The sea has been kind to you," A voice says behind him, startling him from his thoughts. Iwaizumi twists around to see who it is.

"Ah, hello to you too, Ukai," He greets, putting his knife down. "It has, indeed."

Ukai stares down at him, hands cross on his chest. "Old Karasuno has not been so lucky," He comments, looking to the side where his old ship is docking. It sounds a little accusing.

"Don't tell me I've brought more than them," Iwaizumi says jokingly, but the men next to him grumble under their noses.

“They have barely caught enough fish to feed themselves," One says, and others murmur in agreement. Iwaizumi makes a mental note to check on Daichi later.

He gathers his things, fills two bamboo baskets with cod, adds a few madai, slings them over his shoulders, and with a last glance at the arguing brokers, turns to leave the docks. He doesn't have to worry about his pay check - the final documents will be on his table by nightfall. He passes by old man Ukai at the gate - he's visibly upset with whatever he and his grandson are arguing about.

"-I'm telling you, I don't know what happened. He just didn't come! It's their mating season, right? Maybe he found someone to be with!" Keishin says, gesturing wildly. Ikkei silences him with a sharp shush.

Iwaizumi tries to act like he's just another passerby minding his own business, but when he meets the elder Ukai's hawk eyes, he knows he can't bullshit his way out of it. He offers a small courteous bow, and picks up his pace past them, feeling their eyes burning the back of his head. Whatever that was about, it was nothing good.

He keeps marching down the streets, not daring to look back. The afternoon heat is worse than it was on the open sea, and the rod that holds the heavy baskets is slowly carving through his flesh. Iwaizumi has to stop halfway through the town to catch his breath and wipe the sweat off his brow.

"Aah, Hajime, my dear boy! I've heard you've had quite the luck today!"

Iwaizumi screws his eyes shut and bites his tongue. "H-hey, Granny Shirofuku! How are you?" He tries not to sound too sour.

"A lot better now, actually," She chirps happily, waving her hand.

"Boy, I wonder why." Iwaizumi mumbles under his breath, smiling through his teeth. He searches for a way out but the granny is already at his side, looking at him expectantly. Iwaizumi tries to talk himself out of the visit she's _gently_ forcing him to, but she already has an arm slung through his, her long-nailed fingers squeezing his bicep as she urges him to take up the baskets.

Granny Shirofuku ushers him through the door with a stinging slap on his rear, and sits him by the table where her granddaughter is already waiting.

"Hey Hajime," Yukie greets in low voice, her face a perfect picture of boredom induced by too many similar lunches.

"Hello Yuki, how's it going?" Iwaizumi asks in similar fashion, shuffling on the low chair. The room is dark and cool, and smells of baked bread and garlic.

"Pretty good, actually," She says, eyeing the stove, "Only two today - I'm not counting you."

"Oh? What happened?"

"Granny overslept."

Their eyes meet for a second, and they snigger silently. The lunch is great - garlic soup, fresh bread, and roasted fish (borrowed from Iwaizumi's basket). They eat in relative silence, because even though granny tries to bait them into a conversation, they've both lived though enough similar scenarios to know how to get around the remarks. Iwaizumi slowly chews his bread, meeting Yukie's unimpressed eyes. They are only half-listening to the elder Shirofuku complaining about missing grandchildren, but when her train of thoughts swerves towards local scandals, a particular name catches Iwaizumi's attention. 

"What's wrong with Bokuto, granny?" Iwaizumi asks when she starts ranting about family disgraces. He is not really listening to her, instead, he looks at Yukie who wiggles her eyebrows, trying hard not to laugh. Iwaizumi asks for more fish - an effective strategy to get rid of the old woman, and leans over the table for the real story.

"He ran away," Yukie whispers with a barely suppressed grin - Iwaizumi stuffs his mouth with the bread, mutely urging her to continue. "His family is devastated!"

Iwaizumi is sure they are - Bokuto was one of the best fishermen around.

"They are trying to convince everyone that he left because of an American woman but that's not what he was chasing," She giggles. "Remember the ship that docked here last season?"

 Iwaizumi nods.

"There was a guy - curly hair, pretty eyes, a little on the rich side..." She trails off and Iwaizumi bulges his eyes out, choking.

"No way!" He whispers.

"Yeah, yeah," She nods her head, barely containing her laugh, "They were in Tokyo last time I heard."

* * *

Daichi is waiting for him outside, a grin stretching on his face.

"I see you got caught as well," He says, waving to granny Shirofuku who is waving back at them, inviting them to come back again soon.

Iwaizumi shrugs, returning the grin, "The lunch was worth it, though. Did you know about-"

"Bokuto? Yeah." Daichi interrupts immediately, giving him a side glance.

"I didn't expect that."

"Didn't you? I think it was pretty obvious."

* * *

"I heard you didn't have a good season start." Iwaizumi says in the evening, when he and Daichi are sharing a beer on his front porch. Daichi groans.

"What can I say - tough luck for us. Guess we can't go back to the same place twice."

Iwaizumi hums. "Will you be fine until the next cruise?" He wants to invite him to go with him but he bites his tongue. What if Oikawa refuses to show up if he brings another guy with him? _I'm horrible,_ he thinks, _and selfish._ He puts his hand in his pocket and feels around until the finds the scale.

"I'll be fine," Daichi assures him, but he doesn't sound too sure, "I heard you were exceptionally lucky this time."

"You can say that. Hey, if you're ever short on food, let me know. I've got plenty of fish in the freezer and I just received the final bill."

Daichi smirks at him, "I'll get by, don't fret. After all, Yukie is still up to marriage."

"Oh, come on!" Iwaizumi laughs, almost spilling beer on himself. "You'd marry a woman for food?"

Daichi shrugs.

"Man, imagine the children," Iwaizumi muses, "they'd be pretty scary."

"Not to mention imaginary. I haven't hit the rock bottom yet, so let's not get so far ahead."

The conversation stills after that, and they just sit there, enjoying the view on the stars that glisten on the water’s surface. Iwaizumi fingers the fin in his pocket.

"Say Daichi, do you have any good maps of the south-east seas?"

Daichi thinks for a while, mulling the thought over. "Yeah, I think I do - why?"

"Just asking. Can I borrow them?"

* * *

The next time Iwaizumi sets sail, he makes sure he can make a longer trip. The brokers give him a squinty look, and try to pry some information out of him, but he remain adamantly silent as he drags his freezers onboard. He also takes more water tanks, his mask, snorkel and fins, trying to brush the incoming questioning with a tight smile. His escape from the docks is quick and clean, and Iwaizumi has a hard time controlling the smile that is about to break out on his face. He tries to get to the same place he was at month before, and thankfully, he ends up more or less there He glances at the beautiful inky sky, and then checks his GPS. It's shortly after three AM, and the position is good. Iwaizumi thinks maybe he could spread the smaller nets, or at least put up some rods but he decides against it in the end. He just wants to see _him_ \- which is where his problem starts.

Last time he was there, it took Oikawa two days to find him. Iwaizumi groans and paces the deck until his eyes fall onto the red toolbox at the side. He has an idea.

He zooms over to the box, and takes out a blade - Oikawa said he found him because he smelled his blood, if he remembers correctly, so one problem solved. Probably. He looks at his arms and wonders what to cut. A thumb? Too small. Maybe his palm - that could work. Iwaizumi lies down, slides under the railing, and stares at the water, hand and blade ready. He presses the blade against his skin and jerks, expecting pain but getting nothing... for the first five seconds, then it starts stinging like a bitch - Iwiazumi allows himself a short pained yelp.

He holds his hand out, watching the drops of blood dip down. Slowly. But Iwaizumi is impatient, and the child-like excitement wins him over, so he grinds his teeth, and squeezes his palm to make the blood flow faster.

Iwaizumi stares at the black water, and when he thinks about it, maybe it was really an idiotic idea. He sits back and leans against the railing, thinking it through. The only thing he can do now is wait to see if Oikawa turns up. Maybe he really should set up the nets. He goes to stand up but as he braces his hand against the deck, something cold and wet grabs his wrist, making him jump and hit the metal railing with the back of his head. Iwaizumi spins around with a hiss, only to find himself inches away from a wet, grinning face covered by hair. He yelps for the second time and flies backward, making Oikawa laugh.

"What the hell!" Iwaizumi huffs when Oikawa sweeps the hair out of his eyes.

"Hello!" Oikawa greets cheerfully, climbing the railing. "Fish?"

Iwaizumi rolls his eyes and throws his hands in the air. "Just like that? Have you no shame?" He exclaims with a barely contained smile. Not that he could keep up his pretence for long.

"I haven't caught anything yet," Iwaizmi explains when Oikawa starts eyeing the deck for the non-existent catch. "You have to get your own food, sunshine." Iwaizumi says, and steps into Oikawa's line of sight when he starts pouting.

He's grinning like an idiot again because ' _he really did come_ ' but when he thinks about it...

"How did you find me this fast?"

Oikawa looks up, eyes wide like a child. Damn he really has nice eyes. And long lashes. "I was following."

Iwaizumi sighs, "Of course you were. So, what now?" It's not like they can do much stuff. Especially not at night. But before he can speak his mind Oikawa grins and twists around, pointing south-east with one hand while holding himself up with the other. Iwaizumi goes to get his map.

* * *

Oikawa doesn't bother to get back to the water to lead the boat. He climbs on board instead, and shouts corrections at Iwaizumi every time the boat strays off his chosen course. Iwaizumi watches him explore the deck from the cabin with a squint, curious about what he's trying to do. He has half a mind to call him out on not being too stealthy about getting into his bag but he wants to see what happens.

Oikawa keeps glancing around but that's mostly to make sure they are on the right way. He drags himself to where the freezers and Iwaizumi's bags are, and starts searching through them with a child-like curiosity.

Of course he starts taking everything out, turning it over in front of his eyes, and sometimes biting it before setting it down. Iwaizumi is patient and swallows the urge to stop him for the sake of observation until Oikawa digs out his food. When he starts munching on his bread, Iwaizumi realizes it's the highest time to intervene. 

"Hey!" He shouts from the cabin, hurriedly anchoring the helm and dashing out.

He is not as fast as he would like to be because the second Oikawa hears him, he scrambles away with a packet of bread in his mouth. Iwaizumi tried to catch his tail but that damn thing is slippery, and Oikawa has much more strength than him. Iwaizumi is lucky, though, because Oikawa over calculates by trying to dive into the water by sliding under the railing. He gets stuck of course, and Iwaizumi has to laugh at him because Oikawa looks like a fat cat stuck in a cat door too small for it.

"Your butt is too big idiot, you're not going anywhere!" Iwaizumi laughs and squats next to him. The packet of bread hangs from his mouth as he looks back at Iwaizumi with a pout.

"Got you, you thief!" Iwaizumi pats and grabs the tail, tugging him back on board. "Now give me back my bread!" But Oikawa is having none of it. He quickly starts stuffing the rest of it in his mouth, chewing as fast as he can while Iwaizumi screeches and tries to wrestle the packet out of his hands.

Thirty seconds later, Iwaizumi is sitting cross legged next to Oikawa, who is happily finishing the bread and even has the nerve to ask for more.

"I don't have any anymore," Iwaizumi grumbles, massaging the bridge of his nose.

"More!" Oikawa insists, and drapes himself right across Iwaizumi's lap, startling the hell out of him.

"Woah there, I really have no more bread! Hey, what are you doing?" He tenses up when Oikawa starts dragging his webbed hands down the sides of Iwaizumi’s face with a wide, drunk smile on his face.

 "Oikawa," Iwiazumi says unsure, carefully pulling his hands off.

That seems to wake the merman up from whatever took over him, the smile slowly disappearing off his face. He withdraws his hands but keeps lying in Iwaizumi's lap, blinking up at him.

"More!" Oikawa squawks, and gives Iwaizumi a dimply laugh that dissipates the tension.

"You really like that milk bread, eh?"

Before Oikawa can nod, they are interrupted by a sudden, violent rock of the boat. Iwaizumi wants to freak out but Oikawa makes a happy chirp, and finally flops off of his lap.

He extends his arm and points straight ahead. "There! We are here!"

Iwaizumi squints into the distance but sees nothing. He shields his eyes from the sun peeking at the east. "Is that where we're going?"

Oikawa nods and drags himself over the railing (smarter this time) and down into the water.

"The current is strong here!" Oikawa shouts, and swims around the boat to the front. "Can your boat make it?"

Iwaizumi follows him to the bow, leaning over the railing. "Sure," He says, measuring the distance. He goes back to the cabin to take charge of the steer and pick up the speed. He spots Oikawa breaching in front of him, and follows through the nasty current, arms straining to keep the steer forward. It takes quite a while to pass the worst part but once it's over, the waters are the calmest Iwaizumi has ever seen. He puts on sunglasses and slows the boat down. Oikawa is still happily breaching in the front, breaking the calm surface of the sea that reflects the morning sun.

"There!" He shouts, and Iwaizumi finally sees the small island in the distance.

He anchors the boat as close as he dares, and puts on his swimming mask, biting the snorkel. Oikawa is waiting for him under the boat, and Iwaizumi doesn't hesitate to join him. The water is chilly but Iwaizumi has been in colder waters than this. He dives under, hearing Oikawa's chirps and clicks before seeing him. Iwaizumi lets himself float up when Oikawa swims under him, keeping his head in water, breathing through the snorkel. The ocean floor is covered with colourful corals and beautiful fish, and Iwaizumi marvels at the beauty of the land untouched by man.

Until Oikawa swims under him.

Oikawa's facing up, mouth set in a soft smile, eyes heavy lidded as he sways his hips and tail to propel himself forwards. Iwaizumi drags his eyes down the length of his beautifully toned body as he passes, squinting at the light the clear scales of his tail reflect right into his face. His heart makes a weird little flip in his chest, and he kicks his legs to follow, but Oikawa is nowhere to be seen. Iwaizumi looks around in confusion, and dives deeper. Then suddenly, he feels a pair of hands gently slide up his belly to his chest, sending shivers down his spine before they settle on his cheeks.

Oikawa's face appears in front of his face - close, very, _very close_ , - and Iwaizumi's mind comes to a screeching halt as he feels his tail nudge his way between his legs. He's staring at Oikawa's face, eyes dropping to his plump, parted lips as the merman leans closer, and Iwaizumi can't help but to think a panicked _'hold up'_ , torn between anticipating and dreading the sensation of those lips on his own...

He doesn't get to find out what they feel like, because Oikawa ruins it by removing his mask, thus making him reel away as the water hits his eyes and nose. Iwaizumi opens his mouth to swear, and gulps down a mouthful of water while Oikawa unhelpfully watches him flail his arms, too spooked to react. Iwaizumi blindly swims to the surface, and hungrily gasps for air between coughing out his lungs. He feels Oikawa's hands wrap around his chest as he drags him to a nearby stone, helping him up to sit on it.

"Woah, what the hell?" Iwaizumi rasps, spitting in the water as he clears his throat.

Oikawa peeks out from the water, keeping the lower half of his face submerged.

"What was that?" Iwaizumi asks when he notices the merman making bubbles under his nose. He lies back to relax on the sun, and instantly regrets the decision as Oikawa hauls himself up and onto him. Iwaizumi yelps in surprise and pain, catching the merman by his hips as the heavy tail hits him right in his crotch.

"Hold on, what are you--" Iwaizumi is cut off by Oikawa's mouth clumsily pressing against his, literally stealing his breath away. He is still for a beat, and then feels the tail wiggle and immediately pulls away, stopping Oikawa by his shoulders as the merman chases after him.

"Stop it!" Iwaizumi gasps, "What are you doing?" But instead of an answer, Iwaizumi gets a needy whine, and another startling wiggle of Oikawa's tail, which rubs his crotch in the worst angle imaginable.

Iwaizumi prays for mercy as he reaches for the hair on the base of Oikawa's neck, giving it a forceful tug. Oikawa yelps and draws back, sliding back in the water - much to Iwaizumi's relief.

"What's going on with you?" Iwaizumi wonders when Oikawa peeks his head up again, staring back at him with an upset frown. "Are you in heat or some-" The words freeze in Iwaizumi's throat, the realization dawning on him as his mind digs up the scene he witnessed at the docks. "It's spring! Of course, you _are_ in heat!"

"What?" Oikawa looks up in confusion, swimming closer to the rock. Iwaizumi subconsciously backs away.

"It's mating season for you guys, right?" Iwaizumi asks, but Oikawa keeps looking at him with the same befuddled look, slowly tilting his head. "You-you..." Iwaizumi rakes his mind for a good explanation, "Babies? Yes, babies! It's the time where you make babies, right?"

Oikawa's face lights up at the word 'baby', and Iwaizumi feels that instant regret and panic seize him up again.

"No, no, no, no, no, not with me!" He protests, stopping Oikawa from climbing onto him with his foot, pushing him back down as carefully as possible. Oikawa relents, looking upset again.

"But--"

Iwaizumi is having none of it. "No 'but's! I can't have a baby! I'm a man! Like you!" He wildly gestures at Oikawa, whose frown deepens, and cheeks puff out. "It doesn't work in the male-male scenario, trust me." Iwaizumi assures him, not letting him stray from his field of vision. Oikawa circles the rock a couple of times while Iwaizumi keeps an eye on him, still feeling a little queasy. He is pretty far away from the beach and while Oikawa is not thirsting for his blood but for... something else he surely doesn't possess, Iwaizumi still feels like he's stuck in a cage circled by hungry sharks.

 He wages the distance to the safety of the land and comes to the conclusion that, first: he is no match for a merman twice as big and strong in his natural habitat, and second: the chance of being jumped by a very horny half-fish, no matter how slim, is something Iwaizumi doesn't even want to think about. Once was enough.

Oikawa startles him when he stops and puts his hands on the rock, clearly with the intention of dragging himself up, but when Iwaizumi sees the merman hesitate and move to the side, he forces himself to relax. Oikawa climbs up next to him, first lying on his belly, and then coyly flopping onto his back, rubbing the spot where his skin melts into scales, eyes never leaving Iwaizumi's.

Iwaizumi awkwardly clears his throat and looks away. "Stop that." He says, frowning down on his hand - he feels dirty for some reason. He hears Oikawa huff, and then feels him rub his head against his forearm. "That won't work on me." Iwaizumi warns, trying to be stern while side-eyeing the merman with a smile threatening to break out on his face.

Oikawa clicks and whistles silently, nudging his head into Iwaizumi's lap, looking up at him. Iwaizumi strangles yet another yelp and laughs, being reminded of a puppy. He wipes the hair out of Oikawa's forehead, and leans back with a sigh.

"But I can have a baby." Oikawa announces, and Iwaizumi makes an 'oh-you-silly-child' face.

"Come on, even you must know that nature doesn't work that way. Have your parents never given you the sex talk?" When Oikawa furrows his brows, Iwaizumi corrects himself. "The mating talk? Never mind. You don't have a belly for that, idiot. It's just for mermaids."

Oikawa's face straightens out into the most earnest looks when he says, "But I already had a baby in my belly."

Iwaizumi's smile freezes on his face, eyebrows climbing into his hairline. Oikawa keeps looking at him with those big, round, brown eyes, and it is then that Iwaizumi realizes - maybe he's made a huge mistake.

"What?" He croaks weakly, unable to move a muscle. He scans Oikawa's body for any feminine features, but finds none. His body is all hard, lean muscles, wide, _unmistakeably flat_ chest, narrow hips... When he gets to Oikawa's face, Iwaizumi hesitates. Okay, he's pretty but not girl-face pretty. More like handsome-pretty? Those wide eyes are distracting.

Oikawa then turns on his side and raises up, leaning towards the still shell-shocked Iwaizumi. He opens his mouth, ready to say something but is interrupted by a shrill whistle that makes him glance somewhere past Iwaizumi's shoulder.

"Ushi--" Oikawa breathes out, looking suddenly very freaked out. Iwaizumi, distracted by the closure, follows his line of sight.

"Cow?" He asks, frowning at the rather fast approaching dark, dorsal fin, cutting through the water like knife through warm butter. "That's not a cow, that's a--"

' _Shark,_ ' he wants to say, but doesn't make in time. The huge, fast approaching fin turns into a very angry, and _very huge_ merman who dives at Iwaizumi, whose mind is too slow to process what it happening. All he knows that one moment, he's sitting on the rock with Oikawa clawing at his arm, and the next he's underwater, his throat being singlehandedly crushed by the iron grip of a very upset merman.

Iwaizumi tries to struggle - _tries,_ he really does - but batting at a creature three times his size and accordingly strong is as effective as trying to stop a train with bare hands. His heart is madly beating in his chest as he tries to kick at the merman but his feeble attempt is promptly stopped by the merman's other hand, which grips his calf so hard Iwaizumi is sure it broke his bone.  He is at the brink of consciousness, giving up to the thought that he is probably going to be ripped in two as he feels his spine being stretched, until two distressed shrieks reach his ears, and he catches the glimpse of a turquoise tail.

The iron grip disappears so abruptly, it startles Iwaizumi into a gasp that fills his lungs with saltwater and not air. His lungs and body are burning, screaming for oxygen, and his vision is filled with gray and black spots, but then suddenly he is lying on the rock again, heaving and coughing out the stinging water, tears streaming down his face.

He doesn't know who, but somebody lands on his back, and flattens him against the rough surface of the rock, holding onto him for dear life. He tastes blood in his mouth, and winces when that someone shrieks right into his ear - he recognizes the voice, it's Oikawa - tightening the hold on him. He feels a hand claw at his ankle, trying to drag him down again, but Oikawa's weight holds him in place. There is another shriek, and a lot of splashing, then the hand withdraws and Oikawa's weight with it.

Iwaizumi struggles to turn around, and when he finally manages to do so he hits his head. Oikawa's face is right in front of his, worried and desperate as he yells at Iwaizumi, who slowly sits up, unable to look away from the churning water where a single light splotch keeps the darker and much bigger one away from them. He knows who the darker splotch is but has no idea where the light one came from.

"Stay!" Oikawa shouts, his hands squishing Iwaizumi's cheeks, forcing him to look at him before he throws himself in the water again.

Iwaizumi wants to stop him, because _dear God that guy is much stronger than you,_ but the closer Oikawa gets to him, the further back the shark-merman retreats. The white splotch floats on the spot for a while before turning around and swimming to the rock.

"Are you alright?" The newcomer asks urgently as he gently grabs Iwaizumi's injured leg - that merman really did grab him hard enough to pierce his skin - and examines it with a worried frown.

Iwaizumi screws his eyes shut to clear his vision, and stares at the new merman, gaping like a fish. Gray hair that is few shades shy of white; very familiar round, brown eyes; white, shimmering tail that looks like it's glowing in the water - is that a beauty mark under his left eye?

"Close your mouth before something flies in, human," The merman scolds kindly with a smile. Iwaizumi shuts his mouth close with an audible click. "Do you have a first aid kit on your boat? Of course you do - where is it? We need to treat this before you bleed out. Tell me where to find it!" The merman rattles, but Iwiazumi's mind is still too slow to catch up.

He blames the lack of oxygen.

"Hey!" The merman cries to snap Iwaizumi out of it. He doesn't seem too concerned about Oikawa. "The kit!" He repeats sternly.

"I-in the cabin, under the helm." Iwaizumi stutters, and watches the merman speed towards his boat. The merman climbs up without a problem - just like Oikawa - and Iwaizumi watches his shiny tail disappear over the railing. A moment later he's back in the water, swimming towards the rock while holding the kit above his head.

"Get in the water, I need to get you to the beach. Here, hold this, I'm gonna drag you." The merman shoves the kit into his chest, and waits for Iwaizumi to climb down. The merman notices him glancing to where Oikawa is, and sighs.

"Don't worry, he'll be alright. Ushijima is not going to do anything to him. They need to sort this out alone. Come on." He urges, helping Iwaizumi down.

* * *

"I'm Suga, by the way." The merman announces without looking up from Iwaizumi's wound.

They are on the beach of the tiny island, Iwaizumi half-lying in the scratchy sand, looking out for Oikawa and his pissy friend, while Suga tries to patch him up. The sun is already beating down, making the salt bite Iwaizumi's skin. He's wondering if Suga's alright in the heat, but sees that his tail is close enough for the waves to reach it - Iwaizumi actually has to squint at it because it's so shiny.

"I'm Iwaizumi - nice to meet you?"

Suga looks up in surprise that melts into a cheeky smile. "Nice to meet you, too. Do you mind?" He asks as he rubs the gills on his neck. He pauses to show Iwaizumi his slime-covered hand. "You already know what this does, right?"

Iwaizumi scrunches his face. He remembers the first time Oikawa surprise-rubbed it onto him. "That's the healing stuff right?"

"Right." Suga grins, and slaps his hand against Iwaizumi's calf none-too-gently. "Oikawa told me about you," He says. "You are the reason he wanted me to teach him human tongue."

Iwaizumi huffs out a soft laugh. "So, you're his brother then?"

"What gave it away?"

' _Those pretty eyes and cheeky smile,'_ Iwaizumi thinks. "The ability to speak? He told me about you." He says instead.

Suga's grin grows wider. "There you go. Be careful with it," He warns, tying the bandage around his leg into a tight but clumsy knot. He slaps Iwaizumi's leg good-heartedly, wiggling to get deeper in the water. "You're quite lucky you know? Ushijima was this close-" He squints as he emphasizes the 'this close' with his index finger and thumb - "to snapping you in half."

Iwaizumi's head spins, but he manages to choke out a little uneasy laugh. "Yeah, tell me about it." Suga laughs. "So, is Oikawa going to be alright?"

"Ah, well. I'm more worried about Ushijima, to be honest. I mean," Suga scratches the back of his head, glancing backwards. "Oh, here they come!"

Iwaizumi instinctively shuffles backwards, head whipping to watch the water churn but instead of a black fin, he's greeted with the sight of Oikawa's pouty face. Suga doesn't waste any time, barrel-rolling out of the way as his brother crawls right between Iwaizumi's legs to smush his cheek against his chest, locking his arms around him.

"I gather it didn't go well?" Suga sighs, resting his chin in his palms.

Oikawa's hold on Iwaizumi's torso tightens as he shakes his head. Iwaizumi pats his arm, letting out a little pained squeak. Oikawa lets go and raises on his hands, mouth set into an upset pout.

Iwaizumi wants to ask what exactly just happened, and, more importantly, _why_ it happened, but he doesn't get to speak as the two merman brothers start whistling and clicking at each other. He looks out to the sea and spots a dark-haired head sticking out by his boat, glaring daggers at him. Iwaizumi feels a little afraid - what happens if the merman decides he wants to trash it? He has a protest on the tip of his tongue but the merman seems to re-evaluate the revenge and swims towards them instead.

On the other hand, a trashed boat doesn't sound so bad.

Iwaizumi tries to scramble backwards but Oikawa holds him in place, not acknowledging the approaching danger that most possibly still thirsts for Iwaizumi's blood. Suga is the one to interfere this time, positioning himself between them and Ushijima, stopping the angered merman with a quiet whine.

Ushijima whistles back at him - his voice is less shrill but more powerful -  swimming around him and then turns away, heading to the rock.

"Oikawa," Suga sighs unhappily, "You know it wouldn't work. Go to him and apologize. To Iwaizumi as well." He adds sternly. "You both will be unhappy if you keep this up."

That seems to work.

"I'm sorry!" Oikawa says begrudgingly, but with an honestly regretful face. He crawls away before Iwaizumi can open his mouth, disappearing in the water, which immediately alerts Ushijima who's sulking on the rock. The bigger merman waits until Oikawa pokes his head out nearby, and then slides down to join him.

"Seems like the crisis is averted." Suga summarizes, slapping the water with his tail when Oikawa lovingly nudges his head under Ushijima's jaw.

"What are they doing?" Iwaizumi asks, squinting into the distance. He sees Ushijima's fin flash in the distance, and then nothing.

Suga turns to face him, a big grin splitting his face. "What do you think?" He asks lowly, and the cogs in Iwaizumi's head fall into place. He buries his face in his hands, hoping to cover his embarrassment, much to Suga's amusement. The merman pokes his thigh teasingly as he laughs at him, his silvery voice pleasantly ringing in Iwaizumi's ears.

"So, when are they going to come back?" He dares to ask, making Suga shrug.

"When they are done? I mean, it's almost the end of the mating season, and Oikawa was apparently very adamant about not getting anywhere near Ushijima since the beginning - a disaster for the whole pod, really. You can't imagine what it was like - I only returned last week and I had enough." He hesitates before continuing. "You must know this is pretty serious - Ushijima rarely leaves the pod and he absolutely hates being near the surface. Oikawa has really pushed him over the edge this time." He sighs, but he looks more tired than concerned.

"Alright, so if I understand this correctly, Oikawa left the his..." He searches for the right word.

"Mate," Suga offers patiently with a small nod. "His mate."

"Left his mate to do - what? With me? How does it even work? How does any of it work? Oikawa is male, right?" Iwaizumi shakes his head incredulously, still not able to wrap his head around it.

"It doesn't work," Suga explains. "The 'with you' part, at least," He sighs, visibly conflicted. "How to explain this - how much do you know about... never mind. Look, I should probably not be explaining this to you, but I'm going to trust Oikawa's judgement of your character because you saved his life and we're in debt to you for that. Additionally, I feel like you should know that Ushijima is well acquainted with the smell of your blood, and he's very good at tracking." Suga's smile is brilliant, and Iwaizumi doesn't like it one bit.

"So, it's like this: we have females and males like any other species, but if there is too many of one gender in a pod, there are some who are able to change their, uhm, insides?"

"I understand," Iwaizumi offers to save Suga from the struggle for words. He does understand, it's the believing thing he's having a problem with. "Oikawa is one of those, then?"

Suga nods. "He's very versatile."

"Alright, I get it." Iwaizumi stops him before he can get deeper into that. "What's the third kind?"

"They are like me!" Suga exclaims happily. Iwaizumi nods, looking the merman up and down. "We travel around, and gather knowledge, and maybe something more - but that's a secret!" He says cheekily, tail hitting the water in excitement.

Suga does seem much different than Oikawa. His skin is a little darker - not too much, but it's still visible. Probably from swimming close to the surface. There is a thin, leather wire wound several times around his neck, holding a golden pendant that snugly rests just right in the dip of his collarbones; a thick band on his left wrist, and a black piece of cloth tied around his right one - undoubtedly spoils and souvenirs from his travels. That reminds him of something.

Iwaizumi grins. "Say, do you, by any chance, know Ikkei Ukai?"

Suga looks surprised to hear the name. His hand flies to the pendant on his neck, his face morphing into a soft, fond smile. "Yes, I do. He's a friend."

The way he says it makes Iwaizumi's smile stretch out but it freezes on his face when he remembers that Ukai is... much older. When he thinks about it, it doesn't make any sense. "Wait, how old are you?"

The gentle smile slips back in that mischievous grin, but Suga doesn't tell. "We live much longer than you humans." He says mysteriously, cocking an eyebrow.

Their conversation get interrupted, however, by a long, falling whistle. They both look towards the sea and see Oikawa settling himself on the rock, Ushijima following right after to settle himself on top of him, resting his head between his shoulders.

"Looks like the two are done." Suga comments. "And I think Ushijima will be staying here for some time."

Iwaizumi tilts his head. "Why?"

"To keep an eye on the family?"

"But you said he rarely leaves the pod. I mean, they may not have been lucky with the... baby making."

Suga gives him a weird look and bursts into that pleasant silvery laughter. "Oh, they have been lucky, trust me. Why do you think Ushijima was so hell bent on killing you?"

 _'Oh,'_ Iwaizumi thinks, _'oh, damn.'_

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wooo plot twist! (not really) So guess who the babies are!:D
> 
> Kudos? Comments?

**Author's Note:**

> So the question is: JUST WHO COULD THE UNFORTUNATE MAN BE??? a mystery really  
> \--Comments please??? Kudos too, please??? I love them? They are awesome??  
> Let me know what you think??????? Do you want moooooreee??????????????????????


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